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Meaning of foreigners among Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian university students
Kõiv, Kristi | University of Tartu |
Gurieva, Svetlana | Saint Petersburg State University |
Deyneka, Olga | Saint Petersburg State University |
Liduma, Anna | University of Latvia |
Rone, Sandra | University of Latvia |
| Date Issued |
|---|
2019 |
The purpose of this pilot study was to explore Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian university students’ conceptualizations and perceptions of foreigners. The present study examines similarities and differences between Estonian (N=118), Latvian (N=101), Lithuanian (N=101), and Russian (N=92) university students’ understandings about foreigners by self-reported open-ended questionnaire. The applied categorical quantitative analysis of the data was the basis for statistical analysis of results. Results revealed that the meaning of foreigners among university students was conceptualized in society level as an exclusion of people connected with different nationality and language, whereby Russian respondents emphasized more differences in citizenship/nationality and three Baltic states respondents in cultural attitudes and values. Overall acceptance or unacceptance of foreigners tended to depend on the level – foreigners were more accepted in personal level and unaccepted in society level. University students in four study groups generally agree that foreigners have influenced them more positive than negative way, but reasons were different: Lithuanians stress more sympathy and helping behavior; Estonian and Latvian more enlargement of knowledge’s with increase of tolerance; and Russian students’ opinions were more connected with undirect influence by means of media, art and literature.